Marichal thought no one in baseball kicked like him . . . until he got a load of Spahn. "Just like me," Marichal said in the summer of '63.

In truth, Spahn's right leg kick wasn't quite as high as Marichal's, but observers say his delivery was more fluid. On the night that the Braves' aging left-hander took the mound at Candlestick Park, famed columnist Jim Murray wrote that Spahn had "a motion so smooth you could pour it on waffles."

Greg Spahn, the pitcher's son, likes that description.

"It's true. It was amazing for me as a kid to watch," he said by phone from Broken Arrow, Okla.

"My father had a God's gift for throwing. If you look at his motion in slow motion, you'll see a fluidity that isn't there with most pitchers. Consequently, he could throw effortlessly. He could warm up and throw 10 pitches and feel like he was ready to go."

Greg Spahn said it was no coincidence that two players with high leg kicks managed to pitch complete games the night the Giants won 1-0 on July 2, 1963. He credited the style with taking some stress off the arm, noting that his dad was still pitching effectively into his 40s.

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Marichal, however, came up with his leg kick out of nothing more than necessity. He was just looking for a way to get out of the minors.

Hard as it is to envision now, the Giants' Hall of Famer began his pitching career as a side-armer. He had adopted the style on the spot after watching Bombo Ramos, star pitcher for the Dominican National team, as a kid.

It wasn't until 1959 that Giants minor league manager Andy Gilbert convinced Marichal to throw over-hand full-time. Gilbert's selling point was that it would improve Marichal's success against left-handed hitters.

"So I tried throwing overhand," Marichal said, "but it seemed to be impossible to do it without kicking my leg."

Thus, a signature style was born.

The Giants' 6-foot, 185-pound right-hander discovered that swinging his left leg skyward helped propel his delivery toward home plate. Somehow, doing so balanced out the rest of his mechanics -- although Marichal said no one used the word "mechanics" back then -- which meant he could throw overhand without sacrificing control.

Marichal went on to lead the National League in fewest walks per nine innings four times over his career. He finished second three times.

"Two strikes no balls, he'd throw the ball right on the corner. Outside, inside. He challenged from the first pitch of the game to the last one."

As with Marichal, Spahn's high kick gave him a leg up when it came to control. Spahn finished among the N.L's top 10 for walks per nine innings 13 times.

Greg Spahn said: "An umpire came up to me one time and said, 'Let me tell you something about your dad. When I was the home plate umpire and your dad was pitching, I couldn't wait to get to the ballpark because I knew I was going to see a thing of beauty.' "